The Straight Poop: Fecal Transplants Curing C. diff Infections?

Some doctors are introducing a rather unusual weapon into their arsenal of weapons for fighting stubborn, drug-resistant C. diff - feces.

Fecal bacteriotherapy - more popularly called "fecal transplants" - allow a donor's healthy fecal bacteria to help restore balance to the bowels of some infected with C. diff. During the procedure, stool from a healthy donor is emulsified, usually mixed with water or saline and then transferred via a nasal tube or enema to the gut of a seriously ill C. diff patient.

C. diff tends to develop when the typical gastrointestinal flora is disturbed, usually by overuse of certain antibiotics. C. diff rates in healthcare settings have skyrocketed recently, climbing more than 200 percent between 1996 and 2009 in people older than 65. Of those infected, between 20 and 50 percent will end up with hard-to-treat, recurrent infections.

To learn more about the procedure, click here. To learn more about how this procedure is being used in our own backyard, click here.